Saving Money With Meal Planning!

You can easily save money on your grocery bill just by planning out your meals.

I use the app Out of Milk to keep track of what I have on hand, keep track of prices and know what I'm going to spend before I get to the store and also has a handy to do list in it.

Start by taking note of your current stock. Now, list out your meals that you make, put them in groups by things like meat, no meat, crock pot etc. Look at those meals and think about which ones share ingredients or you always end up with leftovers that you remake into something else. You can make weekly meal plans, but I like to plan them for 2 weeks and have 2 options every day.

Next, start pricing out the items you buy if you have your receipts or write the prices down when you go to the store. Take note of the size and you'll calculate the cost per unit for future purchases, that way you know when a price is a good deal. I made a simple excel spreadsheet that I check when looking through sales. Once you have your prices, you'll be able to create your grocery list and know what you are going to spend, before you go to the store.

Now, I know it may seem hard to make a grocery budget and when I first started, it did seem impossible, but now it's like second nature. My budget for the whole month is just $240 for 2 adults and a 4 year old. That's like $8.57 a day or $2.85 a person per day. Now, if you have teenagers or a baby, your budget is going to be higher. But watching prices and using coupons and buying things that are on sale that you are going to USE or are FREE, not just because! I don't buy what we don't use, that is low quality and you use more or something that is going to go to waste. If your family is always dumping milk, maybe you should buy a lower size. It might cost less per unit if you buy bigger, but you'll save money buying only what you are going to use.

If you have a friend or family member and live close to a bulk store, split the membership and the food with them. You can save lots of money buying in bulk if you can split it with someone or freeze it and you live pretty close. I like to calculate my gas cost to drive to a store that's further away with there is maybe only one or two things they have on sale that I need. If gas is going to cost you $3.51 to get there and back, but you're only saving $2.42...it's not worth it. Plan to go there if you are going to be in the area for another reason.

Stick with your meal planning, switch up the meals and orders and any money you don't use, save it for a night out or maybe a cold treat.

Happy Savings!

Saving with Homemade Laundry Soap

In my ever quest of saving money, time and energy I have been walking down the path of making many things myself. When you can make your own things, your own products and cook from scratch, you can save lots of money and it takes you just as much time searching for coupons, driving to the store and buying it. Plus you'll feel great about all the wonderful things you've made!

Let's start with Laundry Soap! I love my laundry soap...love love love love it! I encourage you to read as many recipes as you can find or have time to sort through and experiment with it. I started with liquid, but I love my powder soap too!

You want cheap? How about sensitive skin? Worried about the environment? Use cloth diapers? Then you gotta check out this laundry soap!

Laundry Soap Recipe:
This is to make a dry powder laundry soap which to me is the easiest. Hopefully you have a food processor to save even more time. There are several soaps you can use.
Ivory

Fels-Naptha

Dr. Bronner's

Zote

Or your favorite homemade laundry bar. I love the pink Zote, it has a citrus scent to it and I also use Ivory soap. Ivory, Zote and Fels-Naptha are fairly easy to find in most stores, both Zote and Fels-Naptha will be in your laundry aisle.

Take one bar of the soap you chose, cut it up and put it into a food processor. Zote is a softer soap, you'll want to add the other ingredients as well or it will get stuck to the blades and slow it down. You can grate it too, try as small as you can though. (Do not microwave the Ivory soap to crumble it, you will be attacked by white powder when you open your container...every time and Zote will not smell very nice)  These soaps are fairly easy to shave or grate, but a food processor makes it faster. Blenders will not work right, they are not built for it...is it impossible, no. In a dire situation, (my food processor broke) you can cut up the soap and use a blender while adding the powders below, but you'll have to do small batches and empty often. (At your own risk too)

Powder Laundry Soap

 You'll mix your 1 bar of soap

(Ivory, some prefer 2 bars)

with

2 cups of Borax

And

2 cups of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda. 

This is not Baking Powder or Baking Soda and they can both be found in the laundry aisle.
Mix all ingredients together and store in an air tight container. You'll use 1/8 cup to 1/2 cup per load. Large and heavy soiled or stinky items, I use 1/4 cup, I've never had to use 1/2 cup. And that's with the HE front loading washer and the older top loading ones.

Common Questions:
Do I have to use the hot water setting? No, this will dissolve on the cold water setting.

Is this HE washer safe? Yes, this is low suds soap so you can safely use.

Is this safe for my septic-tank? Yes, these ingredients are not going to upset your tank.

This same recipe can be used to make liquid laundry soap...it makes 5 gallons or you can make it super concentrate using a 2.5 gallon pot. You can adjust the recipe for what you can make.

Liquid Laundry Soap

(Note: With the liquid recipe, you will use 1 bar and 1 cup each of borax, and washing powder)

Grab the biggest pot you have, boil the water and stir in your powders first slowly till they dissolve. Slowly stir in your soap, shaved, grated or microwave your Ivory soap on a microwave safe plate for 90 secs...make sure it is a large one because it does expand and crumble it into the water slowly. Continue to stir until it is all dissolved.

If you are making a 5 gallon batch, pour it into your bucket, add water till filled, stir and put the lid on. If you are keeping it concentrated, just put a lid on and leave them overnight to cool. The next day, get out your blender or paint mixer...this soap is thick! You can then leave it in the container or pot or transfer it to another container. Containers with spouts are awesome, but you can always just scoop it out too.

With the 5 gallon bucket, measure 1/2 cup to 1 cup per load depending on soil level and size. If you only used a 2.5 gallon pot, you can use 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup per load. There are also recipes for making whipped laundry soap, but it requires extra steps and you need a certain size mason jar.

Got stains...Zote & Fels-Naptha are great to rub in for stain treatment. Remember to check stains before putting in dryer, it may take more than one wash! You can also soak your clothes using the homemade laundry soap in hot water. I've had great success with multiple stains doing this.

What about Fabric Softener?

Need a natural solution for a fabric. Vinegar! You can add 1 cup on the rinse cycle or if you have a bleach or fabric softener dispenser, you can fill to max line in one. If you have a smelly item that may need more help, you can fill both. You can also use a Downy ball. Your clothes will not smell like vinegar and any scent from it will leave in the dryer.

Want your laundry to smell fragrant?

There are many essential oils to pick from out there. Rather you like citrus smells, flowers, spices, or even a combination. Just a few drops to your powder and and a few more to your liquid. Depending on the quality and the strength of the oil scent, you'll need more or less. I recommend you test a small amount to see how it smells after wash and dryer. (No love here for how peppermint turns out)

You may also add a drop to your dryer balls or make your own fabric softener sheets...but all that in another post.

Cost?  Depending on how much things cost you and what soap you bought... 5 cents a load or less!

Questions? Recipes to share? Please leave a comment below! And thanks for reading.